In this meditation,
We'll be winding down for sleep,
Taking this time to get comfortable,
Landing in your space,
Perhaps on a bed,
Underneath the blankets,
And resting your head down onto a pillow,
Making any last final movements,
Maybe stretching out a little bit wider,
Taking up space,
Or maybe it feels better to cocoon and tuck your knees into your chest.
As you start to settle,
Starting to turn your awareness to your breath,
The subtle rise and fall of your ribcage,
Noticing not only the rise in the chest,
But in the sides of your body,
And maybe you even feel the shoulder blades and the spine as you continue to breathe.
Starting to shift your breath,
Inviting in deeper inhales,
Feeling space,
Feeling an expanse,
And then as you exhale,
Can you get a little bit heavier,
Creating this looping with the breath.
Inhale,
Filling up,
And then exhale,
Letting go.
Every inhale searches for more tension that can reside in areas of the body,
And then every exhale,
Releasing just a little bit more,
Like you could encourage the muscles to release from the bones,
And a softer quality for the tendons and joints and fascial system that is a beautiful network throughout the body.
As you lie here and breathe,
You may notice yourself being pulled by thoughts,
And that is part of the natural human experience,
And if these thoughts feel particularly sticky,
Loud,
Or concerning,
A practice that you can start to do before bed is to breathe with your thoughts.
So as you inhale,
Focus on the thought and on your breath,
Slowing it right down,
Maybe noticing how challenging it might be to do both,
To focus your attention on both,
And perhaps in this space,
You start to let your focus on your breath reside and take up more space,
So that the thought loses some of its power,
Some of its volume or intensity.
Inhaling from the center of your chest,
Letting the inhale stretch out to your fingers and your toes,
And then exhaling,
Gathering it back into your heart center,
And as your thoughts continue,
As they will,
Taking time to slow them down as you try to link your inhales and your exhales with your thoughts.
And sometimes these thoughts can feel particularly loud,
So that this practice feels a bit more challenging,
And one nice way of creating a little bit of space between you and your thoughts is to start your thoughts with the phrase,
I am having the thought that.
Using this helps us take a step or two away from the actual thought,
Reminding ourselves that the narration and stories that we tell ourselves are simply just that,
They come and they go.
And continue to breathe,
Feeling the full weight of your body as it releases tension.
You might scan from the bottom of your feet,
Through your legs,
Up into the hips and the glutes,
And then up the length of your torso towards your shoulders,
Wrapping that awareness down the lengths of your arms,
Past your elbows,
Your wrists,
Your fingertips,
And your palms.
And then from the very center of your chest,
Taking your awareness up through your neck,
The sides of your face,
The back of your skull,
All the way up to the crown of the head,
Your whole body resting here,
Becoming the witness of your breath,
Continuing to disengage with your thoughts.
And if your lips are sealed,
Seeing if you can create a little bit more distance from your top and bottom teeth,
So that your jaw softens,
The tongue rests at the bottom of the mouth,
The tip just behind the two front teeth,
And as if your breath were like waves of the ocean,
Seeing if you could wash any expression off your face,
So that the muscles of your cheeks soften and release,
Letting yourself sink,
Cultivating a sense of calm.
Keep bringing yourself back,
Welcoming in the sense of presence as you continue to breathe,
Detaching yourself from thoughts and tension.
It's here now that I'll let yourself release down into your sense of sleep.
Good night.
